Interim school superintendent in Randolph hired at Blue Hills

Monday

Jun 16, 2014 at 10:27 AMJun 16, 2014 at 11:18 AM

By Allan SteinFor Wicked Local Randolph

RANDOLPH -- Interim School Superintendent Steven Moore has been hired as assistant superintendent for business and personnel for Blue Hills Regional High School in Canton. The single-school district serves eight communities, including Randolph, Canton and Holbrook.His new job will be similar to the position he once held for eight years as director of business and finance for the Randolph Public Schools. Moore was appointed interim superintendent following the departure of former Superintendent Oscar Santos. He is credited for the work he accomplished as co-architect of the district's Accelerated Improvement Plan together with Assistant Superintendent Darcy Fernandes.Moore interviewed for the full-time permanent Randolph superintendent position but was not among the three finalists selected by a screening committee. In April, the school committee voted to hire Washington, D.C. educator Thomas Anderson, who starts July 1.Moore, reflecting on the past year as interim superintendent, views it as a "personal and career challenge.""I had very strong support from the teaching staff and from the administrative staff," Moore said. "What had been lacking was getting everybody going in the same direction at the same time. I saw it as an opportunity to use my skills as a strategic manager to successfully begin turning around the district."Moore tendered his letter of resignation to the district on May 13."For me, this was a good time to consider ending my stay in Randolph. After a very exciting, learning filled, rewarding, and personally challenging year as your superintendent, I was not sure I could return to my prior position with the same zeal and passion which guided me for the past eight years," he wrote. "I felt I needed a change and an opportunity to recharge my battery. I felt this could only be accomplished by seeking a new challenge in a new district."Moore said his goal for 2013-14 was to stabilize the district and begin to set the course for future success through the continued implementation of the AIP. The rigorous districtwide initiative seeks, through a focused team effort, to improve academic achievement in Randolph and end the stigma of underperformance as a state-classified Level 4 district."I believe our vision of leaving Level 4 status and saying good-bye to the seven-year period of director (state) involvement and oversight of the district will soon come to an end. This will be our victory and a victory for our students as well," Moore said.He said the AIP helped the district to focus on specific strategic initiatives that included making marked gains in reading and math, the two key areas where students have fallen behind.School staff have been made more aware of the AIP and what is represents, and what it hopes to achieve, he said. The ultimate goal is to make the AIP an established institution at every level throughout the district.Moore said he has high hopes for the district as a direct result of the AIP."We could possibly be out of Level 4 before Jan. 1. The state may wait to see what is going on with MCAS scores" first, Moore said."This has been a far greater challenge for me emotionally and more draining than I thought it could be. I learned a lot about what it means to be a school administrator. I also learned the value of community," he said.Moore discounted the notion of the Randolph schools as the perennial underdog with regard to student achievement."I think perception is this case lags reality in that the schools are better," he said. "When I got here eight years ago, the mantra in the town was the state should just take over the schools."That did not happen, he said, because the school district has been able to rise above the tide of negative sentiment through demonstrable achievement."It was great kids and competent teachers. It was a curriculum and a plan for improvement. But what it lacked was having enough people to believe in it being successful," Moore said.